Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2011-12: Olivier LeBlanc played in Quebec midget AAA hockey as a 15-year-old; skating for the Seminaire St-Francois Blizzard. He scored 3 goals with 12 assists and 24 penalty minutes in 40 regular season games. The Blizzard reached the Quebec finals, falling to College Esther-Blondin four games to one and missing out on a trip to the Telus Cup. LeBlanc scored 1 goal with 4 assists and 6 penalty minutes in 20 playoff games. He was selected by St. John in the first round (11th overall) of the 2012 QMJHL Entry Draft.

2012-13: LeBlanc played for Saint John and was an assistant captain for Canada Quebec at the 2013 U17 World Hockey Challenge. LeBlanc skated in 60 regular season games for the Sea Dogs and scored 4 goals with 14 assists; finishing -32 with 41 penalty minutes. Saint John slipped to fifth in the Maritimes Division one season after winning back-to-back QMJHL championships. The Sea Dogs made the playoffs despite having the league’s third worst record and LeBlanc was -4 with 4 penalty minutes in the four-game series with Memorial Cup-bound Halifax. He scored 1 goal with 3 assists and 4 penalty minutes in six games at the WHC for Canada Quebec.

2013-14: LeBlanc skated in 56 games for Saint John in his second season — missing nearly a month after suffering an injury in February. An assistant captain and the leading scorer among Sea Dogs defensemen, he scored 7 goals with 26 assists and was minus-15 with 58 penalty minutes. Saint John missed the playoffs after finishing last in the Maritimes Division. LeBlanc was ranked 126th amongst North American skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings and was selected by Columbus in the seventh round (197th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft.

Talent Analysis

Leblanc is a smooth skater, which primes him to join the rush and skate confidently with the puck. He has good vision and can quickly change zones with crisp passing. A long range prospect, he is a bit slight at this point and will need to add bulk and strength to compete at the pro level but he shows no hesitance when it comes to mixing it up physically. His offensive skills are impressive and he is working on becoming a more defensively responsible player so that can stay with opposing forwards in one-on-one battles.

Future

LeBlanc competed for the Columbus squad at the Traverse City rookie tournament and attended camp with the Blue Jackets before being returned to Saint John for the 2014-15 season. The Sea Dogs are once again one of the QMJHL's top teams and LeBlanc has provided both scoring and some scrappiness. A team captain for Saint John he was selected to skate for Team QMJHL in the Subway Series against Russia. As with any late round pick, he faces long odds in one day skating in the NHL and his lack of bulk will certainly be an issue. One cannot question his desire and production to this point and LeBlanc does have some things going for him.